How did the Nobel Prize come about?
In 1866, Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred B. Nobel (1833-1896) developed a more stable version of the explosive nitroglycerine he named dynamite. It helped reduce the cost of construction work and made him rich. Nobel was fluent in several languages, wrote poetry and drama, and was interested in social and pacifist issues. Childless and discontented, in 1895 he signed a will stipulating that most of his estate (in today’s dollars, about $230-million) should be used to fund five annual prizes for those who “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Today, the prize is about $1.5-million per category. Who decided the categories? The five original prizes were designated in Nobel’s will. The prize in economics, in memory of Nobel and funded by the Bank of Sweden, was created in 1968. How are people nominated? Candidates must be living and are nominated by someone who has received an invitation from the Nobel Committee (and they cannot nominate themselves). Qualifications va
